Two Exeter School junior pupils in uniform laughing together with their arms around each other outside the school building.

Junior Reflections Week 5 October 2025

Dear parents,

We have reached the penultimate week before we break up for half term, and it really feels that autumn has arrived. I would like to thank you for ensuring that items of clothing are named; we are currently seeing a rather large amount of lost property and when items are named, they have a higher chance of being reunited with their owners.

Assemblies

I had the delight of spending the morning over at pre-prep on Tuesday, where I led an assembly about harvest festival and I was joined by my rather naughty friend Jim (aka puppet). A lot of hilarity followed where Jim taught the pupils how to behave and the importance of consent. It is such a tonic to visit all the little people; I could write a book with some of the things that they come up with, and it certainly brightens my day. Our assemblies this week in the junior school focused on age-appropriate online usage for the lower school, and Rules of Law for the upper school. Assemblies are integral to our school day; an opportunity for pupil engagement, messages to be delivered and if pre-prep was anything to go by, a lot of laughter.

This week’s house lunches and assemblies were a great success, offering a fantastic opportunity for the children to get to know each other a little better across year groups. During the assemblies, each house began sharing ideas for creative designs for their unique house shields. This is an exciting time as the houses have the opportunity to decide what symbol they would like to represent them. These will eventually be printed and displayed in the junior school. If your child is continuing to work on their design at home, all instructions are available on Teams. We are looking forward to seeing what the pupils come up with.

Scholarships

A quick reminder that scholarship applications are now open for pupils currently in Upper Two (Year 6), Fourth Form (Year 8) and Upper Fifth (Year 11), with deadlines approaching soon. Please see the school website where you can watch our video presentation or contact admissions@exeterschool.org.uk for further details.

Coming up

The final week before half term is nearly upon us and in true Exeter Junior School style, we don’t slow down, with a taster day for pre-prep, an ‘experience afternoon’ in the senior school for the Upper Two and their parents, comets club visiting the Van Gogh exhibition (I sensibly volunteered to drive the minibus for this one) and some IAPS girls hockey to name but a few.

Have a restful weekend and I look forward to seeing you next week.

Mrs Saskia van Schalkwyk

Playground person of the week

George H U2T

Junior School News

Junior Sport News

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What a great day of cricket! Well done to the @exschsports U11s who finished as runners up at the Devon U11 hardball competition today. The eight a-side format gives each team the opportunity to play three matches during the day with the winners heading to the west finals! Well done on winning  @stpetersprepschool 

@exeterschooluk @devoncricket @esca_cricket #cricket #teamwork #exeterschoolsport #schoolofgreatcharacter

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Mrs Glanville, our pastoral assistant, is taking part in the Coast to Coast walking challenge across Devon - a non-stop, 24-hour trek from Westward Ho!, all the way to Paignton, over Dartmoor! As if this doesn't sound crazy enough, she will still be doing a full day's work beforehand on Friday 19 June 😮 So, her realistic goal is to manage at least 59 miles out of the 68 over 24 hours. 

The aim of the walk is to raise vital funds for @thedevonclinic, a charity providing affordable counselling and mental health support for people who need help but can't always afford it. 

Please donate, share, and be part of this journey for an important cause via the link in our Linktree in our bio

#mentalhealthawareness #fundraising #welcomeandserve #coasttocoast #dartmoorwalk #charity #affordablecounselling #schoolofgreatcharacter #wellbeing #staffchallenge

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15A vs Ivybridge - 9 October 2025

Hockey 1st XI vs Blundell's - 9 Oct 2025

Rugby vs Sherborne and TBGS - 8 October 2025

Scholars' Concert and Cream Tea 2025

Exonian Quiz - 3 Oct 2025

Lower Two residential 2025

U6 Biology trip to Nettlecombe 2025